Cisco chief pans Ascend takeover

Mathematical odds are that Lucent deal will fail, Chambers claims

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Lucent’s $20 billion takeover of Ascend will go wrong, Cisco CEO John Chambers predicts. "The mathematical odds are that it will fail," he said, citing lack of common vision, dissimilar cultures, "chemistry", as well as lack of geographic proximity between the two companies. "According to my estimates, it doesn’t work," he said in an interview with The Times. Telecoms equipment vendors are paying far too much to gain entry into the data equipment market, according to Chambers. Most recent deals have been belated, overpriced and are likely to fail, The Times reports. "Shareholders will look back and say, not only did the acquisition not work, but the price paid for it in hindsight was extremely high. The acquisition prices were probably 50 to 100 per cent higher than what we would have paid", Chambers said. ® 'Ethical' Cisco CEO will avoid anti-trust concernsCisco CEO berates British education systemCeBIT 99. Cisco praises Singapore, bitches about Europe